Kessler OR Kramer???: Let's go wayyyyy back
Peter Palamara
Fellow Seinfeldians
Last week in Australia we witnessed the pilot of the series, known as
the Seinfeld Chronicles (the first series is now being aired for the
very first time in Australia!!!). In this episode, Michael Richards
enters Jerry's apartment around 1.00am as Jerry is about to watch a
tape of baseball game, and spoils the viewing for Jerry by telling him
the result of the game. Jerry falls of the couch groaning and
complaining, and actually refers to Richards as...wait for
it....KESSLER!
My ears did not deceive me or my friends (we listened to him say it a
few time now). What's with the Kessler bit??
Anyone know any background to this? The second episode in the series
is being shown tonight. It will be interesting to hear if the name
Kessler is used again.
By the way, where was Elaine in the first (pilot) episode?? It was
like she didn't exist! Any background on this??
thanks in advance
Yeggster
In article <57j5hu$p...@enyo.uwa.edu.au>,
It's true Elain was not even thought about until the second episode
she was already Jerry's ex by then
Nebver heard the Kessler though keep us posted
Yeggster
talk...@aol.com
The version of the "Seinfeld Chronicles" 1989 pilot that now
airs in U.S. syndication has no reference at all to Kramer's name
(we only learn it in the second episode, which didn't air until
midseason 1990). It's possible you're seeing a line that's edited
out of the version we see (which is recut to allow an extra 30
second commercial availability). Or it may never have been in
the show as originally aired by NBC here either. It's not uncommon
for foreign countries to air scenes that get cut out of the domestic
airing of US series for either time or censorship reasons.
Incidentally, the reason the character's name was ambiguous
or unspoken, had to do with the fact that it was modeled on a
real-life friend of Seinfeld and series co-creator Larry David, a
friend whose name IS Kramer...Kenny Kramer, to be exact. He
signed off on use of his last name for the show, in exchange for
a royalty and the right to cash in by giving a "real world your" of
the New York City haunts where Jerry and friends used to hang
out.(Kenny Kramer has his own WWW site, BTW.) Whatever
the name, Michael Richards was intended to be part of the cast
right from the start.
On the Julia Louis-Dreyfus question...she was NOT in the
cast of the pilot, but joined the gang in the first regular season
episode that aired in 1990 (now seen as the second show in the
rerun sequence). .
Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY